Marshall, George Catlett Jr.

Marshall, George was born, 31-12-1880, in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, was descended on both sides of his family from settlers who had been in Virginia since the 17th century. His father, George Catlett Marshall, Sr, a prosperous coke and coal merchant during his younger son’s boyhood, was in financial difficulties when George entered the Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, in 1897. His mother was Laura Emily and George was also a distant cousin of  Major General Richard Jaquelin Marshall.  The last of three children, Marshall’s parents expected much of him, but were routinely let down by his poor academics and roguish behavior.  After a poor beginning at the institute, Marshall steadily improved his record, and he soon showed proficiency in military subjects. Once he had decided on a military career, he concentrated on leadership and ended his last year at the institute as first captain of the corps of cadets. He graduated from Virginia Military Institute in 1901. In February of the same year he married his childhood sweetheart Elizabeth Carter “Lily” Coles Happily married for 25 years to his first wife until her death in 1927. He remarried three years later, taking as his second wife a widow,, whose three children gave him the family he had hitherto lacked. and his second wife was, Katherine Tupper Brown Marshall

(08-10-1882-18-12-1978. Her husband a Baltimore lawyer, Clifton Stevenson Brown, was murdered by a disgruntled client on 04-06-1928, age 48, in Baltimore. Her son with her first husband Clifton Stevenson Brown, Second Lieutenant Allen Tupper Brown   was killed by a sniper 29-05-1944, age 27, in battle in Italy. He is buried at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial in Nettuno.

The following year Marschall received a commission as a second lieutenant and was sent to the Philippine. In 1906 Marshall resumed his education at Fort Leavenworth. He graduated top of the class and qualified for the Army Staff College. When he completed the course he was kept on for another two years as an instructor. In the First World War Marshall served on the Western Front and was involved in the planning of the Meuse-Argonne offensive in 1918. and was assigned to the staff of Major General James Franklin Bell, commander of the Western Department of the Army. Spring of 1917 saw General Bell reassigned to command the Eastern Department, and as such, placed George Marshall in a key role as an overseer of the US Army’s 1st Division’s mobilization. James Bell died January 08-01-1919 (aged 62) in New York City, US. Promoted to colonel Marshall served for five years as aide to General John Pershing 1919-24) and had a spell of duty in China (1924-27). This was followed by five years as an instructor at Fort Benning (1927-33).In June 1933 Marshall was given command of the 8th Infantry, nickname “Golden Arrow Division Pathfinder” and became responsible for 34 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina. Marshall was a strong believer in the CCC and argued that the US Army should fully support this social experiment.

Marshall was promoted to Brigadier General in October, 1936, and was given command of the 5^th Brigade at Vancouver Barracks in Washington. He was responsible for the CCC camps in the district. Soon afterwards he became seriously ill and had to have his thyroid gland removed. For a while it was believed that Marshall would have to be retired from the army but he eventually made a full recovery.

In August 1938, Marshall was appointed chief of the War Plans Division and three months later he became deputy Chief of Staff. This brought Marshall into contact with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and members of his administration. Harry Lloyd Hopkins

, Hopkins died age 55, of stomach cancer, on 29-01-1946, was especially impressed with Marshall and suggested to the president that he should become the new Chief of Staff. Roosevelt agreed and he assumed office in September 1939.

Marshall directed the United States armed forces throughout  World War II. Over the next four years the US Army grew to a force of 8.300.000 men. Unlike his predecessor, Marshall was a strong advocate of air power and therefore got on well with General Henry Arnold.  However he clashed with Admiral Ernst king (see King) over his policy of using all available resources to defeat Germany before Japan. As a result some critics have claimed that his actions prolonged the Pacific War.

In 1944 Marshall was disappointed not to have been given command of the Allied D-Day landings. However, Roosevelt argued that he could not afford to lose him as Chief of Staff. He was involved in the planning of the invasion and Winston Churchill later claimed that Marshall’s achievements were monumental and described him as the “organizer of victory”.

Marshall was given the rank of a five-star general in December 1944. Along with William Leahy he was senior to Ernest King, Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur and Henry Arnold. Marshall resigned as Chief of Staff on 21st November, 1945, but a few days later Harry S Truman  persuaded him to become U.S. ambassador in China.

In January 1947, Truman, who called Marshall “the greatest living American”, appointed him as his Secretary of State. While in this position, Marshall devised the Europeen Recovery Program (ERP). Over the first year the ERP spent $5,300,000,000 and played a decisive role in the reconstruction of war-torn Europe.

In 1949, ill-health forced Marshall to resign from office and he was replaced by Dean Acheson  Acheson died age 78, on 12-10-1971. However, the following year, aged sixty-nine, Marshall accepted the post as Secretary of Defence and helped organize United States forces in the early stages of the Korean War.

In the summer of 1951 Marshall was attacked by Joe McCarthy McCarthy died age 48, on 02-05-1957, as the newspapers reported, McCarthy had drunk himself to death,  the right-wing senator from Wisconsin, as being soft on communism. In a speech that McCarthy gave on 14^th June, he accused the Secretary of Defence of making decisions that “aided the Communist drive for world domination” and implied that he was a traitor to his country.

Death and burial ground of Marshall, George Catlett Jr.

 Disillusioned by the smear campaign, Marshall retired from politics. However, Marshall’s talents were appreciated abroad and in 1953 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace for his contribution to the recovery of Europe after World War II. Death came to Marshall at Walter Reed Army Hospital, on 16-10-1959, age 78, where he had been under care since last March 11. There was no immediate word on cause of death, but the soldier-statesman had been seriously ill since suffering a stroke at his winter home in Pinehurst, N.C., last Jan. 15.

George Marshall is buried on Arlington National Cemetery in Section 7.